Hello, I am your tutor/teacher/chief of confusion/nagger for this semester in the course 8255EDN.

I have worked in tertiary education since the mid 1970's.

My website has something of my current research interests and additional ways of contacting me if you like to use online messaging systems. I keep a collection of papers and versions of book chapters I have written here. My site currently runs on Wiki software.

I began my academic life as a scientist with a keen interest in computing and related technologies. I shifted into science education and then, in the mid 1980's into education. I have a broad set of interests. Recently, I have been fortunate to work with a terrific group of Principals and teachers who have interests in doing school differently. These are schools that have been exploring the notion of schools as sites of serious knowledge production.

I have kept my interest in computing and related technologies and how formal education systems come to terms with them. I am also interested in a broader set of technologies and in particular the impact they are likely to have on the lives of the young people entering school. These are what Kevin Kelly calls GRIN technologies1. My other interest is in the way change is thought about/theorised in education. I also have interests in contemporary ideas about leadership and management, particularly in education.

To me one of the key questions and issues facing formal education is what some might call the rise of the machines. I use the term machine as a catch-all for software, robots, algorithms, smart devices, basically stuff that automates. It used to be the case that the impact of theses developments were restricted to making things like automobiles. Not any more. I think there is a question that all teachers need to think about, a question that could be asked by a parent:

Why are you teaching my child to do things that machines are good at now2 or soon will be?

I live an un-retired life on the Gold Coast that allows me good access to swimming pools and surf beaches the year round. I like to cook and grow vegetables. I have a long standing affiliation with a particular AFL football club and enjoy sampling particular products made from good Australian grapes!

I am looking forward to working with you in this course in which I hope I can contribute something to your development in terms of academic practice.

Footnotes

1. These are G for Gene, R for Robotic, I for Info and N for Nano technologies as he describes them in his recent book: Kelly, K. (2010). What Technology Wants. New York: Penguin.